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Players and Pieces
"Players and Pieces" is the eighth episode of RWBY Volume 1, which premiered on the Rooster Teeth website on September 5th, 2013. Summary Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee are hanging onto a large mass of feathers fluttering in the wind, with Weiss berating Ruby on how their current predicament was a bad idea. As the two continue to argue, Ruby suggests jumping and does so before Weiss can finish objecting. As Ruby falls, Jaune Arc collides with her in midair, and the two of them land in a nearby tree. Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna are watching everything transpire from the ground. They then notice an Ursa come stumbling out of the forest and collapse on the ground with Nora Valkyrie riding on its back and Lie Ren exhaustedly chasing close behind. Nora quickly makes her way to the chess pieces and delightfully takes a white rook chess piece, declaring herself "queen of the castle", before Ren angrily calls her back. Pyrrha Nikos arrives soon after with the Death Stalker right behind her. Yang then explodes with anger, due to all of the commotion. Soon afterwards, the group notices Weiss still hanging on the claw of a giant Nevermore, fearfully asking how Ruby could leave her. Soon, she falls from the Grimm, and Jaune, in an attempt to gain her favor, jumps off the tree and catches her, although he failed to take gravity into account. As Pyrrha crash-lands in front of the group, Yang sarcastically says now that the entire team has gathered at the location, they can die together. Ruby decides to take out the Death Stalker on her own, but her attacks prove ineffective against its thick armor. Realizing this, she puts Crescent Rose away and flees toward the other students. The Nevermore fires a barrage of feathers, one of which pins Ruby's cape to the ground, pinning her. As the Death Stalker catches up to Ruby, it raises its stinger to strike her. Yang helplessly reaches for Ruby, and Weiss speeds over to Ruby and uses Ice Dust to freeze the Death Stalker's stinger in place. While she criticizes Ruby for her childish and dim-witted behavior, Weiss admits that she herself has been difficult as well. Since they must work together, Weiss promises to be nicer as long as Ruby stops trying to show off, and Ruby states that she was merely trying to prove herself. Ruby points out that the group's mission is simply to retrieve "relics" and return to the cliff, not to dispatch the Death Stalker and Nevermore. As such, she feels the group should leave the temple while they have the chance, and her classmates agree. Ruby grabs a white knight piece, Jaune grabs a white rook piece, and the students flee. However, the Death Stalker breaks free of the ice and gives chase with the Nevermore, forcing the group to face them. The battle leads to a ruined structure in the middle of a canyon, where the group splits into two. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang work together to behead the Nevermore, while Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren send the Death Stalker plummeting into the canyon with its head impaled by its own stinger. Later, at Beacon Academy, Ozpin forms the teams. The first team consists of Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark, forming Team CRDL, pronounced "Cardinal", led by Cardin. The next team is Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren, forming Team JNPR, pronounced "Juniper", with Jaune serving as its leader. Finally, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang form Team RWBY, pronounced "Ruby", with Ruby leading the team. Afterwards, Ozpin notes that it seems this will be an interesting year. Elsewhere, Roman Torchwick finishes talking to someone via a phone call on his Scroll and sighs in frustration. He pays a White Fang member for the delivery of a case of Dust crystals. As the camera zooms in on a map of Vale that he has written on, Roman notes that he is going to need more men. Transcript }} Characters Minor Characters * Cardin Winchester * Russel Thrush * Dove Bronzewing * Sky Lark Trivia *Despite "The Emerald Forest" hinting at the appearance of the Nevermore with a single large feather, it is never explained how Weiss and Ruby came to ride it at the beginning of this episode or got on it in the first place, besides Weiss commenting that it was Ruby's "terrible idea". *When Ruby hit her head on the tree courtesy of Jaune, the "stars" that appear above her head contain miniature 2D sprites of the Beowolves in their "Red" Trailer version. *Blake's Faunus heritage was hinted at around the 0:57 mark. Yang is waving her hand in front of Blake's face, asking if she heard her; Blake merely looks to the sky and points up as her bow twitches, likely from hearing Ruby's scream as she dropped from the Nevermore. *The song playing from 7:52 to 10:36 is the episode version of "Red Like Roses Part II". The RWBY: Volume 1 Soundtrack has a longer version without the instrumental lead-up. *After being saved by Weiss, Ruby whispered "normal knees" to herself; a reference to the episode "Ruby Rose", where Ruby expressed her desire to be treated like a normal person (with normal knees), after Yang said that Ruby was "the bee's knees". *After defeating the Death Stalker, Jaune's team lands in order of their team name: 'J'aune, 'N'ora, 'P'yrrha and then 'R'en. *Pyrrha's three-point landing pose is identical to the one assumed by Agent Carolina from another Rooster Teeth series, Red vs. Blue. Jen Brown, the voice for Pyrrha, also provides the voice for Carolina. *This episode was first seen as a preview at PAX Prime '13 in Seattle. *According to Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross, the battle in this episode went through several rewrites. In one version, the Nevermore creates a massive whirlwind, which sends the students and the Death Stalker into trees. Jaune ends up using his shield like a parachute to throw himself between Pyrrha and the Death Stalker's pincers to save her. Another version included a giant Boarbatusk. *Monty Oum had trouble with accidentally slipping into an Irish accent when reading his lines in the episode, particularly "Nora! Please... don't ever do that again." *In the RWBY Chibi episode "Boy Band", Yang is seen watching the fight between Team RWBY and the Nevermore on her Scroll. *A part of the music for this episode did not make it into the Volume 1 Soundtrack. This part was used in the trailer for Volume 2. *The events of "The Players and Pieces" are re-told in the first half of Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of RWBY: The Official Manga. See Also *Battle Pages **Nora and Ren vs. Ursa **Team JNPR vs. Death Stalker **Team RWBY vs. Nevermore *Commentaries **Directors *Inconsistencies *Leitmotifs Image Gallery 1108 Players and Pieces 01024.png|Hitching a ride on a Grimm. 1108 Players and Pieces 02633.png|Aw! It's broken! 1108 Players and Pieces 04099.png|Nora demonstrates her lack of social skills by interrupting a sisterly reunion. 1108 Players and Pieces 05494.png|If you got me, then who's got you!? 1108 Players and Pieces 11661.png|It's also a hammer. 1108 Players and Pieces 14319.png|Fire everything! 1108 Players and Pieces 15292.png|CHARGE! 1108 Players and Pieces 19127.png|Chopping heads and taking names! 1108 Players and Pieces 19486.png|Wow! 1108 Players and Pieces 20331.png|Team CRDL Unveiled. 1108 Players and Pieces 21542.png|Ozpin confirms the Team RWBY line-up. 1108 Players and Pieces 23256.png|Roman and a member of the White Fang. Video References Category:Episodes Category:Volume 1